Messaging system with augmented reality messages

ABSTRACT

A method of generating an augmented reality lens comprises: causing to display a list of lens categories on a display screen of a client device; receiving a user choice from the displayed list; causing to prepopulate a lens features display on the display device based on the user choice, wherein each lens feature comprises image transformation data configured to modify or overlay video or image data; receiving a user selection of a lens feature from the prepopulated lens display; receiving a trigger selection that activates the lens feature to complete the lens; and saving the completed lens to a memory of a computer device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This applications is a continuation of and claims priority to andincorporates by reference U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/542,710,filed Aug. 16, 2019, which claims priority to and incorporates byreference U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/868,740 filed Jun.28, 2019.

TECHNICAL FIELD

An embodiment of the present subject matter relates generally tomessaging systems and, more specifically, to generating augmentedreality lenses for use in messaging systems.

BACKGROUND

Augmented reality is the display of the physical world and/or physicalobjects therein with an overlay of computer-generated perceptualinformation. The computer-generated perceptual information is notlimited to visually-perceived data but can also include auditory dataand haptic feedback. The overlaid information may be constructive(adding to the display) and/or destructive (masking of the display).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, themost significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to thefigure number in which that element is first introduced.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a networked environment inwhich the present disclosure may be deployed, in accordance with someexample embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a messaging clientapplication, in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a data structure asmaintained in a database, in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a message, in accordance withsome example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for an access-limiting process, in accordance withsome example embodiments.

FIG. 6 is block diagram showing a software architecture within which thepresent disclosure may be implemented, in accordance with some exampleembodiments.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine, in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions may be executed forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed, in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic representation of a processing environment, inaccordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a method of generating an augmented reality lens inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method of generating an augmented reality lens inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates a screen shot of a lens publisher GUI presenting achoice of lens type creation method.

FIG. 12 illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher presentingindustry selection input.

FIG. 13 illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher generating anaugmented reality effect.

FIG. 14 illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher generating anaugmented reality effect.

FIG. 15 illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher saving agenerated augmented reality lens.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments enable users to create augmented reality lenses usingtemplates or to create a new lens using preexisting lens features. Userscan further add two-dimensional images/video to the lenses, such aslogos. Choices of templates for users can be prepopulated based onindustry and/or lens categories. For example, templates can be organizedby industry, such as food & beverage, Personal Care & Beauty, etc. LensCategories can include Most popular, upcoming holidays, animals, etc.

Users can create new lenses by selecting lens features, such as morphingan image, and a trigger to activate the lens feature. Lens features caninclude adding a headdress such as a hat, headband, party hat, etc.;glasses, visual effects, color filters, face effects such asshape/morphing, applying cosmetics, etc.

Once a user has generated a lens based on templates or lens features,users can add 2D overlays, such as logos, product image, and/or otherimages. In addition, users can add music/sounds to the lens.Accordingly, users, such as advertisers, can quickly generate lenses foradvertising or other purposes based on templates or lens features foruse in a communication system, such as an ephemeral messaging system.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system 100 forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network.The messaging system 100 includes multiple instances of a client device102, each of which hosts a number of applications including a messagingclient application 104. Each messaging client application 104 iscommunicatively coupled to other instances of the messaging clientapplication 104 and a messaging server system 108 via a network 106(e.g., the Internet).

A messaging client application 104 is able to communicate and exchangedata with another messaging client application 104 and with themessaging server system 108 via the network 106. The data exchangedbetween messaging client application 104, and between a messaging clientapplication 104 and the messaging server system 108, includes functions(e.g., commands to invoke functions) as well as payload data (e.g.,text, audio, video or other multimedia data).

The messaging server system 108 provides server-side functionality viathe network 106 to a particular messaging client application 104. Whilecertain functions of the messaging system 100 are described herein asbeing performed by either a messaging client application 104 or by themessaging server system 108, the location of certain functionalityeither within the messaging client application 104 or the messagingserver system 108 is a design choice. For example, it may be technicallypreferable to initially deploy certain technology and functionalitywithin the messaging server system 108, but to later migrate thistechnology and functionality to the messaging client application 104where a client device 102 has a sufficient processing capacity.

The messaging server system 108 supports various services and operationsthat are provided to the messaging client application 104. Suchoperations include transmitting data to, receiving data from, andprocessing data generated by the messaging client application 104. Thisdata may include, message content, client device information,geolocation information, media annotation and overlays, message contentpersistence conditions, social network information, and live eventinformation, as examples. Data exchanges within the messaging system 100are invoked and controlled through functions available via userinterfaces (UIs) of the messaging client application 104.

Turning now specifically to the messaging server system 108, anApplication Program Interface (API) server 110 is coupled to, andprovides a programmatic interface to, an application server 112. Theapplication server 112 is communicatively coupled to a database server118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which is stored dataassociated with messages processed by the application server 112.

The Application Program Interface (API) server 110 receives andtransmits message data (e.g., commands and message payloads) between theclient device 102 and the application server 112. Specifically, theApplication Program Interface (API) server 110 provides a set ofinterfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that can be called or queriedby the messaging client application 104 in order to invoke functionalityof the application server 112. The Application Program Interface (API)server 110 exposes various functions supported by the application server112, including account registration, login functionality, the sending ofmessages, via the application server 112, from a particular messagingclient application 104 to another messaging client application 104, thesending of media files (e.g., images or video) from a messaging clientapplication 104 to the messaging server application 114, and forpossible access by another messaging client application 104, the settingof a collection of media data (e.g., story), the retrieval of a list offriends of a user of a client device 102, the retrieval of suchcollections, the retrieval of messages and content, the adding anddeletion of friends to a social graph, the location of friends within asocial graph, and opening an application event (e.g., relating to themessaging client application 104).

The application server 112 hosts a number of applications andsubsystems, including a messaging server application 114, an imageprocessing system 116 and a social network system 122. The messagingserver application 114 implements a number of message processingtechnologies and functions, particularly related to the aggregation andother processing of content (e.g., textual and multimedia content)included in messages received from multiple instances of the messagingclient application 104. As will be described in further detail, the textand media content from multiple sources may be aggregated intocollections of content (e.g., called stories or galleries). Thesecollections are then made available, by the messaging server application114, to the messaging client application 104. Other processor and memoryintensive processing of data may also be performed server-side by themessaging server application 114, in view of the hardware requirementsfor such processing.

The application server 112 also includes an image processing system 116that is dedicated to performing various image processing operations,typically with respect to images or video received within the payload ofa message at the messaging server application 114.

The social network system 122 supports various social networkingfunctions services, and makes these functions and services available tothe messaging server application 114. To this end, the social networksystem 122 maintains and accesses an entity graph 304 (as shown in FIG.3 ) within the database 120. Examples of functions and servicessupported by the social network system 122 include the identification ofother users of the messaging system 100 with which a particular user hasrelationships or is “following”, and also the identification of otherentities and interests of a particular user.

The application server 112 is communicatively coupled to a databaseserver 118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which isstored data associated with messages processed by the messaging serverapplication 114.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating further details regarding themessaging system 100, according to example embodiments. Specifically,the messaging system 100 is shown to comprise the messaging clientapplication 104 and the application server 112, which in turn embody anumber of some subsystems, namely an ephemeral timer system 202, acollection management system 204 and an annotation system 206.

The ephemeral timer system 202 is responsible for enforcing thetemporary access to content permitted by the messaging clientapplication 104 and the messaging server application 114. To this end,the ephemeral timer system 202 incorporates a number of timers that,based on duration and display parameters associated with a message, orcollection of messages (e.g., a story), selectively display and enableaccess to messages and associated content via the messaging clientapplication 104. Further details regarding the operation of theephemeral timer system 202 are provided below.

The collection management system 204 is responsible for managingcollections of media (e.g., collections of text, image video and audiodata). In some examples, a collection of content (e.g., messages,including images, video, text and audio) may be organized into an “eventgallery” or an “event story.” Such a collection may be made availablefor a specified time period, such as the duration of an event to whichthe content relates. For example, content relating to a music concertmay be made available as a “story” for the duration of that musicconcert. The collection management system 204 may also be responsiblefor publishing an icon that provides notification of the existence of aparticular collection to the user interface of the messaging clientapplication 104.

The collection management system 204 furthermore includes a curationinterface 208 that allows a collection manager to manage and curate aparticular collection of content. For example, the curation interface208 enables an event organizer to curate a collection of contentrelating to a specific event (e.g., delete inappropriate content orredundant messages). Additionally, the collection management system 204employs machine vision (or image recognition technology) and contentrules to automatically curate a content collection. In certainembodiments, compensation may be paid to a user for inclusion ofuser-generated content into a collection. In such cases, the curationinterface 208 operates to automatically make payments to such users forthe use of their content.

The annotation system 206 provides various functions that enable a userto annotate or otherwise modify or edit media content associated with amessage. For example, the annotation system 206 provides functionsrelated to the generation and publishing of media overlays for messagesprocessed by the messaging system 100. The annotation system 206operatively supplies a media overlay or supplementation (e.g., an imagefilter) to the messaging client application 104 based on a geolocationof the client device 102. In another example, the annotation system 206operatively supplies a media overlay to the messaging client application104 based on other information, such as social network information ofthe user of the client device 102. A media overlay may include audio andvisual content and visual effects. Examples of audio and visual contentinclude pictures, texts, logos, animations, and sound effects. Anexample of a visual effect includes color overlaying. The audio andvisual content or the visual effects can be applied to a media contentitem (e.g., a photo) at the client device 102. For example, the mediaoverlay may include text that can be overlaid on top of a photographtaken by the client device 102. In another example, the media overlayincludes an identification of a location overlay (e.g., Venice beach), aname of a live event, or a name of a merchant overlay (e.g., BeachCoffee House). In another example, the annotation system 206 uses thegeolocation of the client device 102 to identify a media overlay thatincludes the name of a merchant at the geolocation of the client device102. The media overlay may include other indicia associated with themerchant. The media overlays may be stored in the database 120 andaccessed through the database server 118.

In one example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides auser-based publication platform that enables users to select ageolocation on a map, and upload content associated with the selectedgeolocation. The user may also specify circumstances under which aparticular media overlay should be offered to other users. Theannotation system 206 generates a media overlay that includes theuploaded content and associates the uploaded content with the selectedgeolocation.

In another example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides amerchant-based publication platform that enables merchants to select aparticular media overlay associated with a geolocation via a biddingprocess. For example, the annotation system 206 associates the mediaoverlay of a highest bidding merchant with a corresponding geolocationfor a predefined amount of time.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating data structures 300 which maybe stored in the database 120 of the messaging server system 108,according to certain example embodiments. While the content of thedatabase 120 is shown to comprise a number of tables, it will beappreciated that the data could be stored in other types of datastructures (e.g., as an object-oriented database).

The database 120 includes message data stored within a message table314. The entity table 302 stores entity data, including an entity graph304. Entities for which records are maintained within the entity table302 may include individuals, corporate entities, organizations, objects,places, events, etc. Regardless of type, any entity regarding which themessaging server system 108 stores data may be a recognized entity. Eachentity is provided with a unique identifier, as well as an entity typeidentifier (not shown).

The entity graph 304 furthermore stores information regardingrelationships and associations between entities. Such relationships maybe social, professional (e.g., work at a common corporation ororganization) interested-based or activity-based, merely for example.

The database 120 also stores annotation data, in the example form offilters, in an annotation table 312. Filters for which data is storedwithin the annotation table 312 are associated with and applied tovideos (for which data is stored in a video table 310) and/or images(for which data is stored in an image table 308). Filters, in oneexample, are overlays that are displayed as overlaid on an image orvideo during presentation to a recipient user. Filters may be of variestypes, including user-selected filters from a gallery of filterspresented to a sending user by the messaging client application 104 whenthe sending user is composing a message. Other types of filters includegeolocation filters (also known as geo-filters) which may be presentedto a sending user based on geographic location. For example, geolocationfilters specific to a neighborhood or special location may be presentedwithin a user interface by the messaging client application 104, basedon geolocation information determined by a GPS unit of the client device102. Another type of filer is a data filer, which may be selectivelypresented to a sending user by the messaging client application 104,based on other inputs or information gathered by the client device 102during the message creation process. Example of data filters includecurrent temperature at a specific location, a current speed at which asending user is traveling, battery life for a client device 102, or thecurrent time.

Other annotation data that may be stored within the image table 308 isso-called “lens” data. A “lens” may be a real-time special effect andsound that may be added to an image or a video.

As mentioned above, the video table 310 stores video data which, in oneembodiment, is associated with messages for which records are maintainedwithin the message table 314. Similarly, the image table 308 storesimage data associated with messages for which message data is stored inthe entity table 302. The entity table 302 may associate variousannotations from the annotation table 312 with various images and videosstored in the image table 308 and the video table 310.

A story table 306 stores data regarding collections of messages andassociated image, video, or audio data, which are compiled into acollection (e.g., a story or a gallery). The creation of a particularcollection may be initiated by a particular user (e.g., each user forwhich a record is maintained in the entity table 302). A user may createa “personal story” in the form of a collection of content that has beencreated and sent/broadcast by that user. To this end, the user interfaceof the messaging client application 104 may include an icon that isuser-selectable to enable a sending user to add specific content to hisor her personal story.

A collection may also constitute a “live story,” which is a collectionof content from multiple users that is created manually, automatically,or using a combination of manual and automatic techniques. For example,a “live story” may constitute a curated stream of user-submitted contentfrom varies locations and events. Users whose client devices havelocation services enabled and are at a common location event at aparticular time may, for example, be presented with an option, via auser interface of the messaging client application 104, to contributecontent to a particular live story. The live story may be identified tothe user by the messaging client application 104, based on his or herlocation. The end result is a “live story” told from a communityperspective.

A further type of content collection is known as a “location story”,which enables a user whose client device 102 is located within aspecific geographic location (e.g., on a college or university campus)to contribute to a particular collection. In some embodiments, acontribution to a location story may require a second degree ofauthentication to verify that the end user belongs to a specificorganization or other entity (e.g., is a student on the universitycampus).

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message 400,according to some in some embodiments, generated by a messaging clientapplication 104 for communication to a further messaging clientapplication 104 or the messaging server application 114. The content ofa particular message 400 is used to populate the message table 314stored within the database 120, accessible by the messaging serverapplication 114. Similarly, the content of a message 400 is stored inmemory as “in-transit” or “in-flight” data of the client device 102 orthe application server 112. The message 400 is shown to include thefollowing components:

-   -   A message identifier 402: a unique identifier that identifies        the message 400.    -   A message text payload 404: text, to be generated by a user via        a user interface of the client device 102 and that is included        in the message 400.    -   A message image payload 406: image data, captured by a camera        component of a client device 102 or retrieved from a memory        component of a client device 102, and that is included in the        message 400.    -   A message video payload 408: video data, captured by a camera        component or retrieved from a memory component of the client        device 102 and that is included in the message 400.    -   A message audio payload 410: audio data, captured by a        microphone or retrieved from a memory component of the client        device 102, and that is included in the message 400.    -   A message annotations 412: annotation data (e.g., filters,        stickers or other enhancements) that represents annotations to        be applied to message image payload 406, message video payload        408, or message audio payload 410 of the message 400.    -   A message duration parameter 414: parameter value indicating, in        seconds, the amount of time for which content of the message        (e.g., the message image payload 406, message video payload 408,        message audio payload 410) is to be presented or made accessible        to a user via the messaging client application 104.    -   A message geolocation parameter 416: geolocation data (e.g.,        latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates) associated with the        content payload of the message. Multiple message geolocation        parameter 416 values may be included in the payload, each of        these parameter values being associated with respect to content        items included in the content (e.g., a specific image into        within the message image payload 406, or a specific video in the        message video payload 408).    -   A message story identifier 418: identifier values identifying        one or more content collections (e.g., “stories”) with which a        particular content item in the message image payload 406 of the        message 400 is associated. For example, multiple images within        the message image payload 406 may each be associated with        multiple content collections using identifier values.    -   A message tag 420: each message 400 may be tagged with multiple        tags, each of which is indicative of the subject matter of        content included in the message payload. For example, where a        particular image included in the message image payload 406        depicts an animal (e.g., a lion), a tag value may be included        within the message tag 420 that is indicative of the relevant        animal. Tag values may be generated manually, based on user        input, or may be automatically generated using, for example,        image recognition.    -   A message sender identifier 422: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of a user of the client device 102 on        which the message 400 was generated and from which the message        400 was sent    -   A message receiver identifier 424: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of a user of the client device 102 to        which the message 400 is addressed.

The contents (e.g., values) of the various components of message 400 maybe pointers to locations in tables within which content data values arestored. For example, an image value in the message image payload 406 maybe a pointer to (or address of) a location within an image table 308.Similarly, values within the message video payload 408 may point to datastored within a video table 310, values stored within the messageannotations 412 may point to data stored in an annotation table 312,values stored within the message story identifier 418 may point to datastored in a story table 306, and values stored within the message senderidentifier 422 and the message receiver identifier 424 may point to userrecords stored within an entity table 302.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an access-limiting process500, in terms of which access to content (e.g., an ephemeral message502, and associated multimedia payload of data) or a content collection(e.g., an ephemeral message group 504) may be time-limited (e.g., madeephemeral).

An ephemeral message 502 is shown to be associated with a messageduration parameter 506, the value of which determines an amount of timethat the ephemeral message 502 will be displayed to a receiving user ofthe ephemeral message 502 by the messaging client application 104. Inone embodiment, an ephemeral message 502 is viewable by a receiving userfor up to a maximum of 10 seconds, depending on the amount of time thatthe sending user specifies using the message duration parameter 506.

The message duration parameter 506 and the message receiver identifier424 are shown to be inputs to a message timer 512, which is responsiblefor determining the amount of time that the ephemeral message 502 isshown to a particular receiving user identified by the message receiveridentifier 424. In particular, the ephemeral message 502 will only beshown to the relevant receiving user for a time period determined by thevalue of the message duration parameter 506. The message timer 512 isshown to provide output to a more generalized ephemeral timer system202, which is responsible for the overall timing of display of content(e.g., an ephemeral message 502) to a receiving user.

The ephemeral message 502 is shown in FIG. 5 to be included within anephemeral message group 504 (e.g., a collection of messages in apersonal story, or an event story). The ephemeral message group 504 hasan associated group duration parameter 508, a value of which determinesa time-duration for which the ephemeral message group 504 is presentedand accessible to users of the messaging system 100. The group durationparameter 508, for example, may be the duration of a music concert,where the ephemeral message group 504 is a collection of contentpertaining to that concert. Alternatively, a user (either the owninguser or a curator user) may specify the value for the group durationparameter 508 when performing the setup and creation of the ephemeralmessage group 504.

Additionally, each ephemeral message 502 within the ephemeral messagegroup 504 has an associated group participation parameter 510, a valueof which determines the duration of time for which the ephemeral message502 will be accessible within the context of the ephemeral message group504. Accordingly, a particular ephemeral message group 504 may “expire”and become inaccessible within the context of the ephemeral messagegroup 504, prior to the ephemeral message group 504 itself expiring interms of the group duration parameter 508. The group duration parameter508, group participation parameter 510, and message receiver identifier424 each provide input to a group timer 514, which operationallydetermines, firstly, whether a particular ephemeral message 502 of theephemeral message group 504 will be displayed to a particular receivinguser and, if so, for how long. Note that the ephemeral message group 504is also aware of the identity of the particular receiving user as aresult of the message receiver identifier 424.

Accordingly, the group timer 514 operationally controls the overalllifespan of an associated ephemeral message group 504, as well as anindividual ephemeral message 502 included in the ephemeral message group504. In one embodiment, each and every ephemeral message 502 within theephemeral message group 504 remains viewable and accessible for atime-period specified by the group duration parameter 508. In a furtherembodiment, a certain ephemeral message 502 may expire, within thecontext of ephemeral message group 504, based on a group participationparameter 510. Note that a message duration parameter 506 may stilldetermine the duration of time for which a particular ephemeral message502 is displayed to a receiving user, even within the context of theephemeral message group 504. Accordingly, the message duration parameter506 determines the duration of time that a particular ephemeral message502 is displayed to a receiving user, regardless of whether thereceiving user is viewing that ephemeral message 502 inside or outsidethe context of an ephemeral message group 504.

The ephemeral timer system 202 may furthermore operationally remove aparticular ephemeral message 502 from the ephemeral message group 504based on a determination that it has exceeded an associated groupparticipation parameter 510. For example, when a sending user hasestablished a group participation parameter 510 of 24 hours fromposting, the ephemeral timer system 202 will remove the relevantephemeral message 502 from the ephemeral message group 504 after thespecified 24 hours. The ephemeral timer system 202 also operates toremove an ephemeral message group 504 either when the groupparticipation parameter 510 for each and every ephemeral message 502within the ephemeral message group 504 has expired, or when theephemeral message group 504 itself has expired in terms of the groupduration parameter 508.

In certain use cases, a creator of a particular ephemeral message group504 may specify an indefinite group duration parameter 508. In thiscase, the expiration of the group participation parameter 510 for thelast remaining ephemeral message 502 within the ephemeral message group504 will determine when the ephemeral message group 504 itself expires.In this case, a new ephemeral message 502, added to the ephemeralmessage group 504, with a new group participation parameter 510,effectively extends the life of an ephemeral message group 504 to equalthe value of the group participation parameter 510.

Responsive to the ephemeral timer system 202 determining that anephemeral message group 504 has expired (e.g., is no longer accessible),the ephemeral timer system 202 communicates with the messaging system100 (and, for example, specifically the messaging client application104) to cause an indicium (e.g., an icon) associated with the relevantephemeral message group 504 to no longer be displayed within a userinterface of the messaging client application 104. Similarly, when theephemeral timer system 202 determines that the message durationparameter 506 for a particular ephemeral message 502 has expired, theephemeral timer system 202 causes the messaging client application 104to no longer display an indicium (e.g., an icon or textualidentification) associated with the ephemeral message 502.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram 600 illustrating a software architecture 604,which can be installed on any one or more of the devices describedherein. The software architecture 604 is supported by hardware such as amachine 602 that includes processors 620, memory 626, and I/O components638. In this example, the software architecture 604 can beconceptualized as a stack of layers, where each layer provides aparticular functionality. The software architecture 604 includes layerssuch as an operating system 612, libraries 610, frameworks 608, andapplications 606. Operationally, the applications 606 invoke API calls650 through the software stack and receive messages 652 in response tothe API calls 650.

The operating system 612 manages hardware resources and provides commonservices. The operating system 612 includes, for example, a kernel 614,services 616, and drivers 622. The kernel 614 acts as an abstractionlayer between the hardware and the other software layers. For example,the kernel 614 provides memory management, processor management (e.g.,scheduling), component management, networking, and security settings,among other functionality. The services 616 can provide other commonservices for the other software layers. The drivers 622 are responsiblefor controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware. Forinstance, the drivers 622 can include display drivers, camera drivers,BLUETOOTH® or BLUETOOTH® Low Energy drivers, flash memory drivers,serial communication drivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers),WI-FI® drivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth.

The libraries 610 provide a low-level common infrastructure used by theapplications 606. The libraries 610 can include system libraries 618(e.g., C standard library) that provide functions such as memoryallocation functions, string manipulation functions, mathematicfunctions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 610 can include APIlibraries 624 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries to supportpresentation and manipulation of various media formats such as MovingPicture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4), Advanced Video Coding (H.264 or AVC),Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC),Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) audio codec, Joint Photographic Experts Group(JPEG or JPG), or Portable Network Graphics (PNG)), graphics libraries(e.g., an OpenGL framework used to render in two dimensions (2D) andthree dimensions (3D) in a graphic content on a display), databaselibraries (e.g., SQLite to provide various relational databasefunctions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit to provide web browsingfunctionality), and the like. The libraries 610 can also include a widevariety of other libraries 628 to provide many other APIs to theapplications 606.

The frameworks 608 provide a high-level common infrastructure that isused by the applications 606. For example, the frameworks 608 providevarious graphical user interface (GUI) functions, high-level resourcemanagement, and high-level location services. The frameworks 608 canprovide a broad spectrum of other APIs that can be used by theapplications 606, some of which may be specific to a particularoperating system or platform.

In an example embodiment, the applications 606 may include a homeapplication 636, a contacts application 630, a browser application 632,a book reader application 634, a location application 642, a mediaapplication 644, a messaging application 646, a game application 648,and a broad assortment of other applications such as third-partyapplications 640. The applications 606 are programs that executefunctions defined in the programs. Various programming languages can beemployed to create one or more of the applications 606, structured in avariety of manners, such as object-oriented programming languages (e.g.,Objective-C, Java, or C++) or procedural programming languages (e.g., Cor assembly language). In a specific example, the third-partyapplications 640 (e.g., applications developed using the ANDROID™ orIOS™ software development kit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendorof the particular platform) may be mobile software running on a mobileoperating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or anothermobile operating system. In this example, the third-party applications640 can invoke the API calls 650 provided by the operating system 612 tofacilitate functionality described herein.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine 700 within whichinstructions 708 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet,an app, or other executable code) for causing the machine 700 to performany one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed.For example, the instructions 708 may cause the machine 700 to executeany one or more of the methods described herein. The instructions 708transform the general, non-programmed machine 700 into a particularmachine 700 programmed to carry out the described and illustratedfunctions in the manner described. The machine 700 may operate as astandalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines.In a networked deployment, the machine 700 may operate in the capacityof a server machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 700 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), aPDA, an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smart phone,a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smart homedevice (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a web appliance,a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machinecapable of executing the instructions 708, sequentially or otherwise,that specify actions to be taken by the machine 700. Further, while onlya single machine 700 is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also betaken to include a collection of machines that individually or jointlyexecute the instructions 708 to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

The machine 700 may include processors 702, memory 704, and I/Ocomponents 742, which may be configured to communicate with each othervia a bus 744. In an example embodiment, the processors 702 (e.g., aCentral Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing(RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor,a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), anASIC, a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor, orany suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor706 and a processor 710 that execute the instructions 708. The term“processor” is intended to include multi-core processors that maycomprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as“cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. Although FIG.7 shows multiple processors 702, the machine 700 may include a singleprocessor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores(e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a single core,multiple processors with multiples cores, or any combination thereof.

The memory 704 includes a main memory 712, a static memory 714, and astorage unit 716, both accessible to the processors 702 via the bus 744.The main memory 704, the static memory 714, and storage unit 716 storethe instructions 708 embodying any one or more of the methodologies orfunctions described herein. The instructions 708 may also reside,completely or partially, within the main memory 712, within the staticmemory 714, within machine-readable medium 718 within the storage unit716, within at least one of the processors 702 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, duringexecution thereof by the machine 700.

The I/O components 742 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 742 that are included in a particular machine will depend onthe type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobilephones may include a touch input device or other such input mechanisms,while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touchinput device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 742 mayinclude many other components that are not shown in FIG. 7 . In variousexample embodiments, the I/O components 742 may include outputcomponents 728 and input components 730. The output components 728 mayinclude visual components (e.g., a display such as a plasma displaypanel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acousticcomponents (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor,resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and so forth. The inputcomponents 730 may include alphanumeric input components (e.g., akeyboard, a touch screen configured to receive alphanumeric input, aphoto-optical keyboard, or other alphanumeric input components),point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, ajoystick, a motion sensor, or another pointing instrument), tactileinput components (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen that provideslocation and/or force of touches or touch gestures, or other tactileinput components), audio input components (e.g., a microphone), and thelike.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 742 may includebiometric components 732, motion components 734, environmentalcomponents 736, or position components 738, among a wide array of othercomponents. For example, the biometric components 732 include componentsto detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, vocalexpressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measure biosignals (e.g.,blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brainwaves), identify a person (e.g., voice identification, retinalidentification, facial identification, fingerprint identification, orelectroencephalogram-based identification), and the like. The motioncomponents 734 include acceleration sensor components (e.g.,accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, rotation sensorcomponents (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth. The environmental components736 include, for example, illumination sensor components (e.g.,photometer), temperature sensor components (e.g., one or morethermometers that detect ambient temperature), humidity sensorcomponents, pressure sensor components (e.g., barometer), acousticsensor components (e.g., one or more microphones that detect backgroundnoise), proximity sensor components (e.g., infrared sensors that detectnearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gas detection sensors to detectionconcentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measure pollutants inthe atmosphere), or other components that may provide indications,measurements, or signals corresponding to a surrounding physicalenvironment. The position components 738 include location sensorcomponents (e.g., a GPS receiver component), altitude sensor components(e.g., altimeters or barometers that detect air pressure from whichaltitude may be derived), orientation sensor components (e.g.,magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 742 further include communication components 740operable to couple the machine 700 to a network 720 or devices 722 via acoupling 724 and a coupling 726, respectively. For example, thecommunication components 740 may include a network interface componentor another suitable device to interface with the network 720. In furtherexamples, the communication components 740 may include wiredcommunication components, wireless communication components, cellularcommunication components, Near Field Communication (NFC) components,Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components,and other communication components to provide communication via othermodalities. The devices 722 may be another machine or any of a widevariety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via aUSB).

Moreover, the communication components 740 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 740 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components740, such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation, locationvia Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting an NFC beaconsignal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

The various memories (e.g., memory 704, main memory 712, static memory714, and/or memory of the processors 702) and/or storage unit 716 maystore one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g.,software) embodying or used by any one or more of the methodologies orfunctions described herein. These instructions (e.g., the instructions708), when executed by processors 702, cause various operations toimplement the disclosed embodiments.

The instructions 708 may be transmitted or received over the network720, using a transmission medium, via a network interface device (e.g.,a network interface component included in the communication components740) and using any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols(e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, the instructions708 may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via thecoupling 726 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 722.

Turning now to FIG. 8 , there is shown a diagrammatic representation ofa processing environment 800, which includes the processor 806, theprocessor 808, and a processor 802 (e.g., a GPU, CPU or combinationthereof).

The processor 802 is shown to be coupled to a power source 804, and toinclude (either permanently configured or temporarily instantiated)modules, namely a lens publisher 810, templates 812, a media library814, a media tray 816, lens features 820, and triggers 818. The lenspublisher 810 enables a user to build a lens (augmented reality feature)via a template from templates 812 and/or using features from lensfeatures 820. Templates 812 includes a plurality (e.g., hundreds tothousands) of previously created lenses that comprise a plurality offeatures. Media library 814 stores the user-created lens. The media tray816 comprises user files, such as logo, music, sound files. Triggers 818include actions detected by a camera or other input device that activatethe lens feature(s) in a lens.

The templates 812 can include templates for a variety industries andcategories. For example, industry specific templates may include: Food &Beverage; Personal Care & Beauty; Automotive; Financial Services;Gaming; Travel & Tourism; Restaurants; Retail—Fashion & Apparel;Retail—General; Technology, Media & Telecommunications and others.

Lens categories may include: Most popular; Upcoming holidays; Party;humor (“LOL”); Animals; Beauty; Accessories; Morphing; Characters andothers. Other 3D lens categories may include animals, ears, lol, beauty,regional, glasses, accessories, characters, morphing, India, cartoon,makeup, flowers, pink, cat, bear, Japanese, playful/lol, and sunglasses.

Lens features 820 may include adding a Headdress to an image/video(e.g., self photograph), including: Hat; Headband; Cap; Party hat, etc.;adding Glasses to an image/video including: Sunglasses; Cartoon; etc.;adding visual effects to an image/video including: Bokeh; Confetti;Weather (e.g., snow), etc.; adding color filters to an image/videoincluding Various colors or Vignette, etc.; apply facial effects to animage/video including: Shape/morphing; Smooth skin; adding Eyelashes;applying Lipstick; applying blush, etc. Accordingly, lens features 820including identifying a relevant body part (e.g., eyes, hair, lips,cheeks, etc.) and overlaying/applying images/effects over the identifiedbody part.

Further, uploaded files in the media tray 816 can be used in lensfeatures 820. For example, for a Logo, the lens publisher 810 can move,scale, rotate, and delete. The same actions can apply to a product imageand Gifs in the media tray 816.

Triggers 818 can include actions that activate one or more lens featuresin a lens. Example triggers include: Open mouth; Raise eyebrows; Tap;Blow a kiss; Smile, etc.

Accordingly, an example lens for the food and beverage industry might bedisplaying a pizza image over a person's mouth that is triggered by theperson opening his/her mouth while simultaneously displaying a logo of arestaurant.

FIG. 9 illustrates a method 900 of generating an augmented reality lensfrom a template in accordance with one embodiment. First, a logo isadded (add logo 902) either via receiving an upload from a user or theuser selecting from the media tray 816. Then the lens publisher 810displays industries for the user to select (display industries 904) andreceives a selection (receive choice of industry 906). The lenspublisher 810 then prepopulates lens categories based on industry choice908 and displays lens (e.g., under thumbnails) for each category 910.The lens publisher 810 then receives lens selection 912 from a userselection. The lens publisher 810 then receives text and/or image to addto lens 914, if any, from the user. Then the lens publisher 810 receiveslens icon and name 916 and saves lens to media library 918. The method900 then ends. Note that the method can be performed in an order otherthan that described above. For example, add logo 902 can be performedafter Receive text and/or image to add to lens 914. Further, many partsof method 900 are optional, such as the add logo 902.

Once a lens is generated, the user or other users can access the lens togenerate an augmented reality and transmit it within a message toanother user.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method 1000 of generating an augmented realitylens in accordance with one embodiment. The method 1000 comprises addinglogo 1002 either via receiving an upload from a user or the userselecting from the media tray 816. In another embodiment, a logo can bepulled from a user's website or app and added to the media tray 816 foruse. Next a lens feature from lens features 820 is added (1004) based ona user selection of displayed lens features 820. The display of lensfeatures 820 can be organized based on categories, such as industry,event (e.g., holiday) animals, etc. selected by a user. A 2D overlay canthen be added (1006), which can be autocropped and/or centered (1008).Music/sound can then be added (1010) via an uploaded sound file, e.g.,from the media tray 816. A trigger from triggers 818 can then be added(1012). A post-trigger action can then be defined (1014) for thetrigger, e.g., activating the selected lens feature(s) or a portion ofthe selected lens feature. A lens name and/or icon can then be added(1016) and the completed lens is saved (1018) to the media library 814.The method 1000 then ends.

Note that the method can be performed in an order than that describedabove. For example, add logo (1002) can be performed the add lens (1016)Further, many parts of method 1000 are optional, such as the add logo(1002).

Once a lens is generated, the user or other users can access the lens togenerate an augmented reality and transmit it within a message to otherusers.

FIG. 11 illustrates a screen shot of a lens publisher graphical userinterface GUI 1100 presenting a choice of lens type creation method. Auser can the GUI 1100 to select either starting with a template 1102corresponding to method 900 or generating a new lens 1104 correspondingto method 1000 using features 1106, such as feature 1108, e.g., Grouchoglasses.

FIG. 12 illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher GUI 1200presenting industry selection input. If a user proceeds to generate alens via method 900, the user can select an industry in item 1202 andupload a logo in item 1204. Selecting an industry will cause lenspublisher 810 to prepopulate lens categories based on industry choice908.

FIG. 13 illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher GUI 1300generating an augmented reality effect. Assuming a user is generating anew lens (method 1000), the user can select one or more lens featuresfrom lens features 820, such as item 1312 or item 1314. After selection,the effect of the feature can be viewed on a mobile phone screenreproduction 1316. Further, photographs of various of people of variousraces, genders, etc. can by cycled through to confirm the feature iseffective on various people. For example, item 1302-item 1310.

FIG. 14 illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher GUI 1400generating an augmented reality effect. Various elements can be added toa lens, such as templates, top of head lens features (e.g., item 1314),beautification, etc. In addition, sounds and text can be added to thelens via tab 1406 and tab 1408. Once a lens is completed, it can bepushed to device by a user pressing button 1402. The lens publisher 810will then push the generated lens to the mobile phone screenreproduction 1410 and/or a mobile device communicatively coupled to thelens publisher 810.

FIG. 15 illustrates a screen shot of the lens publisher GUI 1500 savinga generated augmented reality lens. The lens can be saved at item 1502and a lens icon be uploaded at item 1504 or a saved icon (e.g., from themedia tray 816) can be used at item 1506.

In addition to the above, a user can access existing assets in the mediatray 816 and save uploaded assets from lens publisher 810 into the samemedia tray 816. Lens publisher 810 also provides template swappingfunctionality. A user can change template of a Lens to Template B afteruser has started creating a Lens in Template A. This actionautomatically puts user-uploaded assets (e.g., logo) into Template B.

In an embodiment, a User can click a button in the GUI 1500 thatduplicates their exact Lens with pre-set changes in it to make a secondLens variant that they can use for creative variant testing. This actiondoes not overwrite first Lens

Four variants can be automatically created (user has ability to add ordelete variants). The automatically generated variants can follow therules below:

-   -   Automatic variant creation should change:    -   If face effects from Lens Publisher 810 exist, auto-adjust the        face effect (e.g., increase beautification) for the variant.    -   If 3D assets from Lens Publisher 810 exist, switch the 3D asset        with another one from the same category (e.g., for hat, switch        with different hat to create 1 variant).    -   If no 3D assets from Lens Publisher 810 exist AND user used a        template, use the template swapping functionality described        above to create variants with different templates.    -   If no 3D assets from Lens Publisher 810 exist AND user did not        use a template (e.g., user only customized with        text/logo/images), change logo sizing, text sizing, and color        tint of image.

Accordingly, the lens publisher 810 and related methods enable a user togenerate augmented reality lenses faster than conventional methods.

“Signal Medium” refers to any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding, or carrying the instructions for execution by amachine and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible media to facilitate communication of software or data. Theterm “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of a modulateddata signal, carrier wave, and so forth. The term “modulated datasignal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics setor changed in such a matter as to encode information in the signal. Theterms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing andmay be used interchangeably in this disclosure.

“Communication Network” refers to one or more portions of a network thatmay be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS)network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi®network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more suchnetworks. For example, a network or a portion of a network may include awireless or cellular network and the coupling may be a Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobilecommunications (GSM) connection, or other types of cellular or wirelesscoupling. In this example, the coupling may implement any of a varietyof types of data transfer technology, such as Single Carrier RadioTransmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO)technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, EnhancedData rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G)networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High SpeedPacket Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by variousstandard-setting organizations, other long-range protocols, or otherdata transfer technology.

“Processor” refers to any circuit or virtual circuit (a physical circuitemulated by logic executing on an actual processor) that manipulatesdata values according to control signals (e.g., “commands”, “op codes”,“machine code”, etc.) and which produces corresponding output signalsthat are applied to operate a machine. A processor may, for example, bea Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing(RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor,a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-FrequencyIntegrated Circuit (RFIC) or any combination thereof. A processor mayfurther be a multi-core processor having two or more independentprocessors (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may executeinstructions contemporaneously.

“Machine-Storage Medium” refers to a single or multiple storage devicesand/or media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) that store executable instructions,routines and/or data. The term shall accordingly be taken to include,but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magneticmedia, including memory internal or external to processors. Specificexamples of machine-storage media, computer-storage media and/ordevice-storage media include non-volatile memory, including by way ofexample semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM), FPGA, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; andCD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks The terms “machine-storage medium,”“device-storage medium,” “computer-storage medium” mean the same thingand may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms“machine-storage media,” “computer-storage media,” and “device-storagemedia” specifically exclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, andother such media, at least some of which are covered under the term“signal medium.”

“Component” refers to a device, physical entity, or logic havingboundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branch points, APIs,or other technologies that provide for the partitioning ormodularization of particular processing or control functions. Componentsmay be combined via their interfaces with other components to carry outa machine process. A component may be a packaged functional hardwareunit designed for use with other components and a part of a program thatusually performs a particular function of related functions. Componentsmay constitute either software components (e.g., code embodied on amachine-readable medium) or hardware components. A “hardware component”is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various exampleembodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computersystem, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one ormore hardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or agroup of processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an applicationor application portion) as a hardware component that operates to performcertain operations as described herein. A hardware component may also beimplemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combinationthereof. For example, a hardware component may include dedicatedcircuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certainoperations. A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor,such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may alsoinclude programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configuredby software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardwarecomponent may include software executed by a general-purpose processoror other programmable processor. Once configured by such software,hardware components become specific machines (or specific components ofa machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and areno longer general-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that thedecision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicatedand permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configuredcircuitry (e.g., configured by software), may be driven by cost and timeconsiderations. Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” (or“hardware-implemented component”) should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardwarecomponents are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware components need not be configured or instantiated at any oneinstance in time. For example, where a hardware component comprises ageneral-purpose processor configured by software to become aspecial-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may beconfigured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g.,comprising different hardware components) at different times. Softwareaccordingly configures a particular processor or processors, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware component at one instanceof time and to constitute a different hardware component at a differentinstance of time. Hardware components can provide information to, andreceive information from, other hardware components. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware components may be regarded as being communicativelycoupled. Where multiple hardware components exist contemporaneously,communications may be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., overappropriate circuits and buses) between or among two or more of thehardware components. In embodiments in which multiple hardwarecomponents are configured or instantiated at different times,communications between such hardware components may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware components have access. Forexample, one hardware component may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at alater time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware components may also initiate communications with inputor output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation). The various operations of example methods described hereinmay be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implementedcomponents that operate to perform one or more operations or functionsdescribed herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component”refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors.Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors 1004 orprocessor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processorsmay also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an API). The performance ofcertain of the operations may be distributed among the processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processors orprocessor-implemented components may be located in a single geographiclocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or aserver farm). In other example embodiments, the processors orprocessor-implemented components may be distributed across a number ofgeographic locations.

“Carrier Signal” refers to any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by themachine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible media to facilitate communication of such instructions.Instructions may be transmitted or received over a network using atransmission medium via a network interface device.

“Computer-Readable Medium” refers to both machine-storage media andtransmission media. Thus, the terms include both storage devices/mediaand carrier waves/modulated data signals. The terms “machine-readablemedium,” “computer-readable medium” and “device-readable medium” meanthe same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure.

“Client Device” refers to any machine that interfaces to acommunications network to obtain resources from one or more serversystems or other client devices. A client device may be, but is notlimited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digitalassistants (PDAs), smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks, netbooks, laptops,multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any other communicationdevice that a user may use to access a network.

“Ephemeral Message” refers to a message that is accessible for atime-limited duration. An ephemeral message may be a text, an image, avideo and the like. The access time for the ephemeral message may be setby the message sender. Alternatively, the access time may be a defaultsetting or a setting specified by the recipient. Regardless of thesetting technique, the message is transitory.

As described above, lenses in accordance with embodiments describedherein refer to modifications that may be made to videos or images. Thisincludes both real-time modification which modifies an image as it iscaptured using a device sensor and then displayed on a screen of thedevice with the lens modifications. This also includes modifications tostored content, such as video clips in a gallery that may be modifiedusing lenses. For example, in a creator profile with multiple lenses, anauthorized third party account may use a single video clip with multiplelenses to see how the different lenses will modify the stored clip.Similarly, real-time video capture may be used with a lens to show howvideo images currently being captured by sensors of a device wouldmodify the captured data. Such data may simply be displayed on thescreen and not stored in memory, or the content captured by the devicesensors may be recorded and stored in memory with or without the lensmodifications (or both).

Lens data and various systems to use lenses and modify content usinglenses may thus involve detection of objects (e.g. faces, hands, bodies,cats, dogs, surfaces, objects, etc), tracking of such objects as theyleave, enter, and move around the field of view in video frames, and themodification or transformation of such objects as they are tracked. Invarious embodiments, different methods for achieving suchtransformations may be used. For example, some embodiments may involvegenerating a three dimensional mesh model of the object or objects, andusing transformations and animated textures of the model within thevideo to achieve the transformation. In other embodiments, tracking ofpoints on an object may be used to place an image or texture (which maybe two dimensional or three dimensional) at the tracked position. Instill further embodiments, neural network analysis of video frames maybe used to place images, models, or textures in content (e.g. images orframes of video). Lens data thus refers both to the images, models, andtextures used to create transformations in content, as well as toadditional modeling and analysis information needed to achieve suchtransformations with object detection, tracking, and placement.

Real time video processing can be performed with any kind of video data,(e.g. video streams, video files, etc.) saved in a memory of acomputerized system of any kind. For example, a user can load videofiles and save them in a memory of a device, or can generate a videostream using sensors of the device. Additionally, any objects can beprocessed using lenses, such as a human's face and parts of a humanbody, animals, or non-living things such as chairs, cars, or otherobjects.

In some embodiments, when a lens is selected along with content to betransformed, elements to be transformed by the lenses are identified bythe computing device, and then detected and tracked if they are presentin the frames of the video. The elements of the object are modifiedaccording to the request for modification, thus transforming the framesof the video stream. Transformation of frames of a video stream can beperformed by different methods for different kinds of transformation.For example, for transformations of frames mostly referring to changingforms of object's elements characteristic points for each of element ofan object are calculated (e.g. using an Active Shape Model (ASM) orother methods). Then, a mesh based on the characteristic points isgenerated for each of the at least one element of the object. This meshused in the following stage of tracking the elements of the object inthe video stream. In the process of tracking, the mentioned mesh foreach element is aligned with a position of each element. Then,additional points are generated on the mesh. A first set of first pointsis generated for each element based on a request for modification, and aset of second points is generated for each element based on the set offirst points and the request for modification. Then, the frames of thevideo stream can be transformed by modifying the elements of the objecton the basis of the sets of first and second points and the mesh. Insuch method a background of the modified object can be changed ordistorted as well by tracking and modifying the background.

In one or more embodiments, transformations changing some areas of anobject using its elements can be performed by calculating ofcharacteristic points for each element of an object and generating amesh based on the calculated characteristic points. Points are generatedon the mesh, and then various areas based on the points are generated.The elements of the object are then tracked by aligning the area foreach element with a position for each of the at least one element, andproperties of the areas can be modified based on the request formodification, thus transforming the frames of the video stream.Depending on the specific request for modification properties of thementioned areas can be transformed in different ways. Such modificationsmay involve: changing color of areas; removing at least some part ofareas from the frames of the video stream; including one or more newobjects into areas which are based on a request for modification; andmodifying or distorting the elements of an area or object. In variousembodiments, any combination of such modifications or other similarmodifications may be used.

In some embodiments of lenses using face detection, the face is detectedon an image with use of a specific face detection algorithm (e.g.Viola-Jones). Then, an Active Shape Model (ASM) algorithm is applied tothe face region of an image to detect facial feature reference points.

In other embodiments, other methods and algorithms suitable for facedetection can be used. For example, in some embodiments, features arelocated using a landmark which represents a distinguishable pointpresent in most of the images under consideration. For facial landmarks,for example, the location of the left eye pupil may be used. In aninitial landmark is not identifiable (e.g. if a person has an eyepatch),secondary landmarks may be used. Such landmark identification proceduresmay be used for any such objects. In some embodiments, a set oflandmarks forms a shape. Shapes can be represented as vectors using thecoordinates of the points in the shape. One shape is aligned to anotherwith a similarity transform (allowing translation, scaling, androtation) that minimizes the average Euclidean distance between shapepoints. The mean shape is the mean of the aligned training shapes.

In some embodiments, a search for landmarks from the mean shape alignedto the position and size of the face determined by a global facedetector is started. Such a search then repeats the steps of suggestinga tentative shape by adjusting the locations of shape points by templatematching of the image texture around each point and then conforming thetentative shape to a global shape model until convergence occurs. Insome systems, individual template matches are unreliable and the shapemodel pools the results of the weak template matchers to form a strongeroverall classifier. The entire search is repeated at each level in animage pyramid, from coarse to fine resolution.

Embodiments of a transformation system can capture an image or videostream on a client device and perform complex image manipulationslocally on a client device such as client device 102 while maintaining asuitable user experience, computation time, and power consumption. Thecomplex image manipulations may include size and shape changes, emotiontransfers (e.g., changing a face from a frown to a smile), statetransfers (e.g., aging a subject, reducing apparent age, changinggender), style transfers, graphical element application, and any othersuitable image or video manipulation implemented by a convolutionalneural network that has been configured to execute efficiently on aclient device.

In some example embodiments, lenses may be used by a system where a usermay capture an image or video stream of the user (e.g., a selfie) usinga client device 102 having a neural network operating as part of amessaging application 104 operating on the client device 102. Thetransform system operating within the messaging application 104determines the presence of a face within the image or video stream andprovides modification icons associated with the lenses, or the lensesmay be present as associated with an interface described herein. Themodification icons include changes which may be the basis for modifyingthe user's face within the image or video stream as part of the lensoperation. Once a modification icon is selected, the transform systeminitiates a process to convert the image of the user to reflect theselected modification icon (e.g., generate a smiling face on the user).In some embodiments, a modified image or video stream may be presentedin a graphical user interface displayed on the mobile client device assoon as the image or video stream is captured and a specifiedmodification is selected. The transform system may implement a complexconvolutional neural network on a portion of the image or video streamto generate and apply the selected modification. That is, the user maycapture the image or video stream and be presented with a modifiedresult in real time or near real time once a modification icon has beenselected. Further, the modification may be persistent while the videostream is being captured and the selected modification icon remainstoggled. Machine taught neural networks may be used to enable suchmodifications.

In some embodiments, the graphical user interface, presenting themodification performed by the transform system, may supply the user withadditional interaction options. Such options may be based on theinterface used to initiate the content capture and lens selection (e.g.initiation from a content creator user interface). In variousembodiments, a modification may be persistent after an initial selectionof a modification icon. The user may toggle the modification on or offby tapping or otherwise selecting the face being modified by thetransformation system, and store it for later viewing or browse to otherareas of the imaging application. Where multiple faces are modified bythe transformation system, the user may toggle the modification on oroff globally by tapping or selecting a single face modified anddisplayed within a graphical user interface. In some embodiments,individual faces, among a group of multiple faces, may be individuallymodified or such modifications may be individually toggled by tapping orselecting the individual face or a series of individual faces displayedwithin the graphical user interface.

Example embodiments include:

1. A computer-implemented method of generating an augmented realitylens, comprising:

causing to display a list of lens categories on a display screen of aclient device;

receiving a user choice from the displayed list;

causing to prepopulate a lens features display on the display devicebased on the user choice, wherein each lens feature comprises imagetransformation data configured to modify or overlay video or image data;

receiving a user selection of a lens feature from the prepopulated lensdisplay;

receiving a trigger selection that activates the lens feature tocomplete the lens; and

saving the completed lens to a memory of a computer device.

2. The method of example 1, further comprising generating a messageusing the completed lens and transmitting the message to another clientdevice.

3. The method of example 2, wherein the message is an Ephemeral Message.

4. The method of example 1, further comprising receiving a post-triggeraction definition.

5. The method of example 1, further comprising receiving a 2D overlayand adding it to the lens.

6. The method of example 1, further comprising receiving a sound fileand adding it to the lens.

7. The method of example 1, wherein the lens feature includes morphingan image.

8. The method of example 1, wherein the lens feature includes overlayinga second image over a first image.

9. The method of example 8, further comprising identifying a body partin the first image and overlaying the second image over the identifiedbody part.

10. A computer-implemented method of generating an augmented realitylens, comprising:

causing to display a list of industries on a display screen of a clientdevice;

receiving a user choice of an industry from the displayed list;

causing to prepopulate a lens categories display on the display screenwith lens templates based on the user choice;

receiving a user selection of a lens template from the prepopulated lenscategories;

wherein each lens template comprises image transformation dataconfigured to modify or overlay video or image data;

saving the selected lens template to memory of a computing device; and

transmitting a message generated with the saved lens template via anephemeral messaging system.

11. A system for generating an augmented reality lens, comprising:

one or more processors of a machine;

a memory storing instruction that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

causing to display a list of lens categories on a display screen of aclient device;

receiving a user choice from the displayed list;

causing to prepopulate a lens features display on the display devicebased on the user choice, wherein each lens feature comprises imagetransformation data configured to modify or overlay video or image data;

receiving a user selection of a lens feature from the prepopulated lensdisplay;

receiving a trigger selection that activates the lens feature tocomplete the lens; and

saving the completed lens to a memory of a computing device.

12. The system of example 11, wherein the operations further comprisegenerating a message using the completed lens and transmitting themessage to another client device.

13. The system of example 12, wherein the message is an EphemeralMessage.

14. The system of example 11, wherein the operations further comprisereceiving a post-trigger action definition.

15. The system of example 11, wherein the operations further comprisereceiving a 2D overlay and adding it to the lens.

16. The system of example 11, wherein the operations further comprisereceiving a sound file and adding it to the lens.

17. The system of example 11, wherein the lens feature includes morphingan image.

18. The system of example 11, wherein the lens feature includesoverlaying a second image over a first image.

19. The system of example 18, wherein the operations further compriseidentifying a body part in the first image and overlaying the secondimage over the identified body part.

20. A machine-readable storage device embodying instructions that, whenexecuted by a machine, cause the machine to perform operationscomprising:

causing to display a list of lens categories on a display screen of aclient device;

receiving a user choice from the displayed list;

causing to prepopulate a lens features display on the display devicebased on the user choice, wherein each lens feature comprises imagetransformation data configured to modify or overlay video or image data;

receiving a user selection of a lens feature from the prepopulated lensdisplay;

receiving a trigger selection that activates the lens feature tocomplete the lens; and

saving the completed lens to a memory of a computing device.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of generating anaugmented reality lens, comprising: causing a lens template display toprepopulate with facial lens templates on a display screen of a clientdevice, wherein each facial lens template includes a lens feature thatcomprises image transformation data configured to overlay video or imagedata of a face; receiving a selection of a facial lens template from theprepopulated lens template display; receiving a trigger selection thatactivates a facial lens feature of the selected lens template tocomplete customization of the facial lens template, thereby forming acompleted facial lens, the trigger selection including detection of afacial action by a camera; and saving the completed facial lens to amemory.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating amessage using the completed facial lens and transmitting the message toanother client device.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the message isan Ephemeral Message.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreceiving a post-trigger action definition.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving a 2D overlay and adding it to the faciallens.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a soundfile and adding it to the facial lens.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe facial lens feature of the selected lens template includes morphingan image.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the facial lens feature ofthe selected lens template includes overlaying a second image over afirst image.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising identifying abody part in the first image and overlaying the second image over theidentified body part.
 10. A system for generating an augmented realitylens, comprising: one or more processors of a machine; a memory storinginstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causethe machine to perform operations comprising: causing a lens templatedisplay to prepopulate with facial lens templates on a display screen ofa client device, wherein each facial lens template includes a lensfeature that comprises image transformation data configured to overlayvideo or image data of a face; receiving a selection of a facial lenstemplate from the prepopulated lens template display; receiving atrigger selection that activates a facial lens feature of the selectedlens template to complete customization of the facial lens template,thereby forming a completed facial lens, the trigger selection includingdetection of a facial action by a camera; and saving the completedfacial lens to a memory.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein theoperations further comprise generating a message using the completedfacial lens and transmitting the message to another client device. 12.The system of claim 11, wherein the message is an Ephemeral Message. 13.The system of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprisereceiving a post-trigger action definition.
 14. The system of claim 10,wherein the operations further comprise receiving a 2D overlay andadding it to the facial lens.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein theoperations further comprise receiving a sound file and adding it to thefacial lens.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein the facial lens featureof the selected facial lens template includes morphing an image.
 17. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the facial lens feature of the selectedfacial lens template includes overlaying a second image over a firstimage.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the operations furthercomprise identifying a body part in the first image and overlaying thesecond image over the identified body part.
 19. The system of claim 10,wherein the facial lens feature applies facial effects to the video orimage data of the face.
 20. A machine-readable storage device embodyinginstructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine toperform operations comprising: causing a lens template display toprepopulate with facial lens templates on a display screen of a clientdevice, wherein each facial lens template includes a lens feature thatcomprises image transformation data configured to overlay video or imagedata of a face; receiving a selection of a facial lens template from theprepopulated lens template display; receiving a trigger selection thatactivates a facial lens feature of the selected lens template tocomplete customization of the facial lens template, thereby forming acompleted facial lens, the trigger selection including detection of afacial action by a camera; and saving the completed facial lens to amemory.